The best of it, especially the B flat minor Scherzo, is superb, the virtuosity effortless, the grip on the formal structure utterly secure . . . just as much to admire as in Pollini's 1974 recording of the Preludes . . .

A Chopin recital from a "grand master" like Maurizio Pollini is always a grand statement, and this disc contains many joys, even revelations . . . His sense of phrasing, structure and pacing is undimmed: in both the Op. 27 Nocturnes, for instance, the way he allows the narrative to evolve and transform is supremely wise and sophisticated. Tone quality is often exquisite -- the D flat major Prelude (the "Raindrop") is probably the loveliest rendering of it I can think of . . . [few accounts of the Preludes] are more pure or devoted. Recorded sound is excellent.